Fire Prevention Week in Grande Prairie

Fire Prevention Week continues in the province and the Grande Prairie Fire Department is out with some safety advice.

Fire Marshall James Kostuk says the message is ‘every second counts: plan two ways out’,

“It’s like doing a fire drill in your home, at least twice a year you want to make sure you are aware of the outline of your property, you have two ways out of your bedroom, out of every room and you want to make sure when you leave your home you have an area where everyone is meeting just to keep everybody safe.”

In the last few months, there have been a few fires in the city, one started by a cigarette butt caused $450,000 in damage and just over the weekend, there were two structure fires in the county.

“We have had some injuries and death in the City of Grande Prairie and across national averages, so just because fire happens so quick we need to make sure people aren’t panicking, they’re prepared and they know what to do in an emergency so they get out quickly cause every second does count,” says Kostuk.

Fire Prevention Week 2017 runs from Oct. 8 to 14, which marks the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.

In 2016, there were 4,324 fires in Alberta resulting in 29 deaths and 166 injuries.

Cooking fires, fires caused by smokers’ materials and fires involving electrical wiring in the home accounted for 68 per cent of all home fires from 2007 to 2016. Other common fire causes include arson and deliberately set fires, heating equipment and appliances.

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